Mission To Parenthood
by atlantisbabe34
Summary: “Not funny Elizabeth. How’s junior today?” he asked placing a hand on her swollen tummy. “She’s excited her daddy is coming home today” Elizabeth said. John and Elizabeth are married; With a Child on the way, Sam Carter comes across to take her position.


**A/N:** So I have no idea where this Plot Bunny launched its attack from, but I present you with what is properly a very badly written fic lol.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Stargate and the characters, they belong To MGM and who ever else is involved lol.

**Summary: **John and Elizabeth are married; With a Child on the way, Sam Carter comes across to take her position while she is on leave. When Samantha Carter Sends John on his last mission, before he takes leave, The Routine Recon ends badly when John is Gravely Injured. Mentions of Keller/ Ronan and Sam and Jack.

**Characters:** John Sheppard, Elizabeth Weir, Samantha Carter, Rodney McKay, Ronan Dex, Jennifer Keller, Teyla Emmargen.

**Spoilers:**Tiny One from Doppelganger and lifeline.

* * *

Elizabeth Weir sat at her desk for the last time this year. Her large swollen belly could bee seen from the other side of the desk. Her arm draped over it protectively as she read a science report. Today was her last day as official leader of the base for a year. Colonel Samantha Carter was taking the position from Elizabeth while John and she took some time off before and after their child was born. A small smile appear on Elizabeth's face as she ignored the 28 page report a certain Doctor of Science wrote, and remembered back to the day when Doctor Keller had told her the good news. John and Elizabeth had been married just over 8 months. The foreign object on her left hand still made her giggle like a school girl. She was broken from her thoughts when the gate activated signalling the arrival of Colonel Carter.

Elizabeth struggled to rise from her chair as she got up to walk into the Control Room to meet their new guest.

"Have we got an IDC yet Chuck?" She asked her hand still resting on her stomach.

"Yes Ma'am, Stargate Command." Chuck replied. Elizabeth turned and walked to the Balcony overlooking the gate room as Samantha Carter walked through the wormhole.

"Colonel Carter, Welcome back to Atlantis." Elizabeth called from the balcony, as Sam made her way up the stairs to meet her on the balcony.

"Thank You Doctor Weir, I trust you are well?" Sam asked signalling to her swollen stomach.

"Very Well, and yourself?"

"Well Enough" Sam replied. Elizabeth signalled her to follow her into her office.

"I'll have my things put in my quarters so you have space Colonel." Elizabeth told her as she lowered herself slowly back into her desk chair. Elizabeth taped on her head set.

"Dr McKay would you please come to my office. Our guest has arrived." Elizabeth smiled at Sam as she tapped off her earpiece. "I suppose I should start to get you up to speed, since you will be starting on Monday."

"That might help." Sam Joked. They shared a small chuckle. Before Elizabeth could continue, Rodney McKay came panting through the office doors, ignoring the presence of Sam and walked quickly up to Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth, are you ok?! Is something wrong?!" He asked frantically."Rodney, I'm fine, everything's fine. Colonel Carter has arrived" Elizabeth said gesturing to Sam sitting in front of her.

"McKay" Sam acknowledged him

"Sam" McKay nodded curtly. It was an awkward moment, and the silence needed to be broken.

"Uhh, I thought you could get Colonel Carter up to speed, while we showed the Colonel her quarters?" Elizabeth suggested.

"Ah, of course, this way Sam" Rodney directed her as he picked up her bags.

"I got it McKay "Sam Said taking the bags from him and rolling her eyes at him. Elizabeth tried to hide the grin forming on her lips, as she rose from her chair. _This is going to be fun_ she thought.

* * *

Ronan was bored; kicking the ass of your Commanding officer had got boring to him very quickly. Although John was improving and occasionally blocking some of his strikes, he was promised not to beat the crap out of him that much by a very pregnant and at the time angry women that was John's wife. As for John, He laid breathing heavily on the gym floor.

"Elizabeth will kick you ass, if she find out about this" John said as he sat up and gingerly rubbed his face.

"Its nothing more that Jenn will do when you go complaining to her about I kicked your ass again." Ronan said grinning at John.

"Yeah fine, whatever. Now help me up." John said. Ronan grabbed his outstretched arm and hauled him to his feet.

"Lets go, I'm meeting Elizabeth for dinner." John and Ronan walked out of the gym. There was silence for a while as they walked to the transporter. When Ronan asked John a question he was not expecting.

"Are you scared?"

" Scared of what?" John asked as they exited the transporter near the Mess.

"Of having a kid" Ronan said. "I never really thought about it back on Sateda."

"I dunno, I'm nervous obviously, I mean having a kid changes your life, or so they say. I dunno, it's weird, I feel I'm ready, but what if I screw up or something?"

"John Relax, your gonna be a great dad." Ronan said as they walked into the mess. They grabbed dinner which was Roast beef and vegetables, and walked to their table. Elizabeth, Teyla, Rodney and Sam, where already seated at the table.

"Colonel Carter, Your here early" John said sitting down next to Elizabeth and taking her bread roll.

"Hey!" Elizabeth said, trying to snatch the bread roll out of John's hands, but he promptly shoved it in his mouth.

"What? You weren't eating it" he told her. His words muffled by the bread roll in his mouth.

"In answer to your question Colonel, Dr Weir recommended I come earlier as to get up to speed with things and find my way around your fair city." Sam said. She looked between the two of them. Her eyes picking up the looks and her ears picking up the bickering in their voice. Her heart ached for Jack. Soon Jennifer and Teyla had joined them and they spent the night basking in the company of each other.

* * *

Monday came and as promised, Elizabeth desk was clear. Over the weekend break Sam had put her sentimental items in the office. Along the back behind the desk she placed pictures of her team mates and friends. A picture of Daniel in a tux from her and Jack's wedding, a picture of Cassie, one of Teal'c, one of her father and one of her and Jack fishing. On the desk she placed various knickknacks and a photo of her and Jack from their wedding day. She smiled sadly looking at it while fingering her rings on her dog tags. A knock on the office door brought her back to reality as she placed the photo back down on the desk and looked up at the person who had disturbed her thoughts. "Colonel Sheppard, What can I do for you?" Sam asked as she sat down in the desk chair.

"My team's just about ready to go offworld, for the last time. Well, for me anyway" He added. "And I realised that I hadn't congratulated you on your promotion to full bird Colonel. So congratulations" John lazily saluted her. "I heard from Elizabeth that there is another thing I should congratulate you on Colonel?" Sam smile and nodded.

"Thank you Colonel Sheppard" She said. "How long till you team is ready?"

"About ten minutes ma'am" John said as he took in the new look of the office. "This is weird." He commented.

"How so?"

"I'm so used to seeing Elizabeth's things in here. I mean, I know they are in our quarters, but it's still not the same you know?" John said as he looked at the photos along the back on the office.

"It's only a year Colonel, then I will be out of your hair" Sam said smiling. "Be ready to head out in ten." She said, pulling the computer towards her.

"Yes Ma'am" John saluted as he walked out of the office.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Team Sheppard was ready to head out."You have a go Colonel, good luck" Sam said from the balcony over the gate room.

"Thank you Colonel" John said turning away from the balcony and facing his team. "Let's move out."

P2X-654 was a planet similar to Earth, bright blue sky, Long green grass, and two suns. They walked off the steps of the stargate into the long wheat-looking grass and headed south.

"Oh! How did the M.A.L.P miss that? I should have brought my SPF 60 sunscreen!" McKay complained at they walked through the grass, heading for a village they could see near by.

"Shut up McKay" Ronan said gruffly.

"You shut up!"

"You shut—"Ronan was cut off by John stopping and turning to face them, with a very unamused face.

"How bout you both shut up?" John suggested, gesturing with one hand and the other gripped his P-90. "This is my last mission, can we please just get along... for me?"

"Oh that's right, just because Captain Kirk is going on leave we have to be nice, for him" Rodney argued searching his vest pockets for sunscreen.

"I've been married for 8 months McKay, and plus I never 'Kirked'" John told him as they reached the outskirts of a small village.

"Or you're just afraid of what Elizabeth would do to you if she found out?" Ronan Said grinning at him.

"That's not cool, Ronan." John said as he shot him a friendly glare. They walked thought the deserted village.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" Teyla called out. The village was silent, besides a creaking door that was being opened very slowly.

"We are travellers from a distant planet, we wont hurt you" John called out.

"Then why do you carry weapons?" one of the villages yelled out from the gap in the door.

"They are only for self defence" Teyla called back."We do not welcome visitors who threaten us with weapons! Leave now before we loose our patience with you" the villager yelled.

"Ok, I'm thinking we need to leave. Now" John said as he turned to walk out of the village. They walked quickly and silently back to the gate. Ronan was on point followed by Teyla, McKay then John. An eerie silence has settled over the field, not like when they arrived.

"Something's wrong." Ronan whispered. "We are being stalked."

"Ok, fan out." John whispered to his team. "Whoever gets to the gate first dial it up and get back to Atlantis, have the security detail ready."

The team fanned out and dropped into the long grass. John was slowly making his way thought the grass, his finger on the trigger ready to fire. After 5 minutes of anticipation the gate became active. John poked his head out of the tall grass, to see who had dialled. It was Ronan, Teyla appeared next to him and together they walked thought the gate. John looked around for a sign of Rodney, but couldn't make anything out. The gate was still active and he was close. Very close. He crouched in the grass and again looked for a sign of McKay. He caught a flash of the black jacket, about 600 metres to the left of him. Silently he crawled and crouched through the grass to get to McKay's position.

"McKay!" he whispered loudly.

"Sheppard? Is that you?" McKay said is head popping out of the grass. John's eyes scanned the tree line. He caught a glimpse of a number of men holding guns.

"Oh, this is not good. McKay get up" John said as he pulled McKay up.

"Ok now would be a good time to run." They took off. Running was difficult due to the long grass. Shots could be heard coming from the guns. John fired over his shoulder hopefully enough to distract and stop the firing of the villagers.

"This is not how I planned my last mission!" John yelled as they ran through the grass.

* * *

Ronan and Teyla stood waiting on Atlantis, weapons poised with the security detail.

"They should be through by now." Teyla said, sharing a worried look with Ronan.

"They'll make it." Ronan said looking back at the gate.

A few minutes later the back of Rodney McKay came thought the gate. He appeared to be struggling and pulling something behind him. As he moved further through the gate, it could be seen that Rodney was in fact dragging John.

"We need a medical team in here!" McKay yelled as he collapsed on the floor, as the gate shut down.

"Medical team to the gate room" Colonel Carter paged as she ran down the stairs.

"Rodney what happened?!" Sam asked him as the medical team ran into the room Doctor Keller with them.

"What happened?" She asked Rodney.

"I was cut off, we made a run for the gate, and he was shot from behind." Rodney said wiping john's blood off his hands and onto his pants.

"Doc, is gonna be ok?" Ronan asked moving forward.

"I don't know." Jennifer said as John was lifted onto the gurney and wheeled away from the gate room. The rest of the team still standing in the gate room in silence.

* * *

Rodney, Teyla and Ronan had changed and showered and were sitting in the infirmary waiting for any news on John. Rodney was about to open his mouth when they turned to look at the door of the infirmary.

"Dr Weir, He is in surgery, please you must not stress!"

"Elizabeth?" Rodney asked jumping off one of the infirmary beds and running over to the door.

"Rodney!" Elizabeth cried out as she pushed past the nurse. "What happened? Is he ok?"

"He's in surgery. Elizabeth he was shot" Rodney said gripping her shoulders. "Here come and sit down" He guided her to a chair beside the infirmary bed he just vacated.

"How was he shot it was meet and greet?!" Elizabeth asked.

"Apparently our weapons had scared the villagers; they set up an ambush at the gate. Ronan and I made it through first. Dr McKay said that John went back for him as he was cut off from the gate. He was shot while they were running back to the gate." Teyla said they sat again in silence. Doctor Keller emerged a few moments later in her scrubs. Elizabeth quickly sat up and walked over to her.

"Is he alright?" She asked frantically.

"He was shot from behind a number of times. Two shots hit his lung another in his shoulder and another has grazed his cheek. We have removed all the bullets. It was touch and go there for and still is. We will have put him in a medical coma so his lung's can heal properly before we wake him up. All we can do for him I'm afraid is just to monitor him and see if there is any change." Doctor Keller said to the team. "I'm sorry, I must go and finish." She walked towards the door when Ronan spoke up.

"Jenn." He said gently as we walked over to her.

"Ronan –"She was cut off.

"Is he gonna be ok?"

" Honestly..." She glanced back at Teyla and Rodney who were comforting Elizabeth."... I don't know" She gave him a sad smile and squeezed his hands and walked thought the door.

* * *

It was one week later, and John still was in a medical coma. Elizabeth spent every waking second next to his bed his hand clasped in hers and her other hand protectively over her stomach. Doctor Keller had told Elizabeth that the healing processes weren't going as fast as she hoped and that there was very little change. Elizabeth had spent that night in the quarters, on medical orders from Doctor Keller, crying herself to sleep. The next day she spent in the infirmary. Rodney, Ronan and Teyla would take turns sitting with her and John trying to keep her spirits up. On the outside it seemed to work, on the inside however Elizabeth couldn't help feeling empty. The love of her life and the father of her child was lying in a hospital bed in a coma. Sam had stopped by a few times but they hadn't made a lot of conversation other then "how is he?" "How are you?" Elizabeth knew it was wrong but she couldn't help but feel angry at Sam.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the one person she didn't want to see at the moment. Sam walked into the Infirmary and made her way quietly over the John's bed where Elizabeth was sitting. Her head resting on the side of the bed, facing away from Sam and her hand in John's. The other still on her stomach.

"What can I do for you Colonel Carter" Elizabeth said not moving.

"I just came to see if there was any change" Sam said sitting down in chair on the other side of John's bed.

"There is no change" Elizabeth said sitting up slowly and wincing. Her hand went to her back.

"Are you ok?" Sam asked concerned

"I'm fine, back aches more then before" Elizabeth said, still not making any eye contact with Sam.

"Can I ask you something?" Sam Said looking down at her hands which she was rubbing together. Elizabeth nodded, wincing again.

"Are you afraid?" This time Elizabeth tore her eyes away from John's pale face to look Sam in the eye.

"I wasn't. But I am now" She Said. "When I first found out that I was pregnant, I was scared, people were treating my like I was made of glass, the usual over protectiveness. Eventually I got used to that. Now without John I feel incredibly vulnerable. This is the first time he's come back like this since we have been together. I..." She stopped and took a deep breath."... I—I just wish he never went on that mission." Elizabeth said tears forming in her eyes.

"Dr Weir, we couldn't have known what was going to happen, we had no way of knowing" Sam Said.

"We should have looked at the M.A.L.P telemetry better before we sent them; we should have read the description of the planet In the database better before we sent them." Elizabeth said. The tears now silently flowing down her face. She stubbornly wiped them away with the back of her hand.

"Elizabeth..." Sam started and got up out of her chair and walked over to crouch beside Elizabeth, her hand on her arm. "... There was nothing we could do."

"Forgive me if I believe differently" Elizabeth said bitterly. Sam stood up, processing the conversation in hear head. Did Elizabeth blame her for what happened to John?

"I don't mean to sound rude Colonel" Elizabeth said turning and making eye contact with Sam. "But I really don't want to talk to you at the moment." Sam looked shocked but quickly hid it. Elizabeth's word hit her hard.

"I'll- - umm, I'll just go" Sam said walking backwards from John's bed. She turned on her heal and walked out of the infirmary. Hopefully with her dignity and pride still intact. Elizabeth watched her leave. Once Sam was out of eye sight she burst into tears and laid her head back on the side of John's bed, feeling emptier then before.

Sam walked out of the infirmary and stopped in the hallway. She turned around and looked from the infirmary door and back to where she was standing._ I suppose it will take a while to fit in here_ she thought. These were the moments when she missed her husband and his comfort. She missed Jack with all her heart and seeing Elizabeth like that she felt sympathy for her. She knew all to well how Elizabeth was feeling. Countless times she watched Jack lie on his deathbed, and disturbing as it was, she found some comfort knowing that she wasn't the only one who felt vulnerable.

* * *

It was two weeks after John's accident and his lung had finally healed and Dr Keller was preparing to take him out of the coma. Sheppard's team plus Elizabeth and Sam were all standing around his bed when John came to. 

"'Lizabeth?" John asked. Feeling her squeeze his hand a smile came to his face.

"Welcome back Colonel Sheppard. How are you feeling?" Jennifer asked him. Handing him a cup with water in it.

"I've been better" John said as he moved he winced and a hand came to his face were the graze was. "Owww"

"Try to relax John" Elizabeth said still holding his hand stroking it with her thumb. She felt John's hand relax then suddenly tense up.

"How long was I? Did I Miss anything? Elizabeth. Are you still pregnant?!" He asked hurriedly not opening his eyes against the light.

"Whoa slow down there Sheppard" McKay told him. "You were out for 3 weeks, no you didn't miss anything and yes Elizabeth is still pregnant." Elizabeth guided his hand to rest on her stomach.

"See?" Elizabeth said smiling and John cracked his eyes open to look at her.

"I thought I missed it" John said smiling at her.

"She never left your bedside Colonel" Sam piped up. Looking directly at Elizabeth. Elizabeth smiled apologetically. "Glad to see you up Colonel." Sam smiled at him and walked out of the infirmary.

"Colonel Carter!" A voice called her as she walked thought she hallway. She stopped and turned around. Elizabeth walked up to her a little breathless.

"Look, I just want to apologise to you for what I said last week. It was extremely rude and unfair to you. So for that I'm very sorry." Elizabeth apologised.

"Don't worry about it. I knew how you felt. I've been there before." Sam Said as she placed a hand on Elizabeth arm. She smiled at Elizabeth and walked away leaving Elizabeth standing in the hallway.

* * *

"So Colonel, ready to leave, Elizabeth said as she walked into the infirmary.

"He's been bugging me for weeks for this." Doctor Keller said smiling at Elizabeth.

"Well John, Your leave starts today: Elizabeth joked.

"Not funny Elizabeth. How's junior today?" he asked placing a hand on her swollen tummy.

"She's excited her daddy is coming home today" Elizabeth said

""She"" John asked, look of amazement on his face. "It's a girl?" Elizabeth nodded.

"I found out when you were still out." Elizabeth said a big smile forming on her face.

"We're having a girl?" John asked again. Elizabeth laughed.

"Yes John, We are having a daughter." Elizabeth said hugging him.

"Well, Colonel Sheppard, you are officially released. I don't want to see you back in here until that child is born. Do I make myself clear?" Dr Keller told him.

"Yes ma'am!" John said jumping off the bed, taking Elizabeth's hand in his and together they walked out of the door.

* * *

"I would haven upset if I missed it" John said and they lie together on the bed in their quarters. Elizabeth's head on his should and her hand in the middle of his chest.

"I wouldn't have been able to do it without you." Elizabeth said looking up at him and sharing a kiss. They lay quietly together in their quarters, sharing en embrace. John's arms wraps protectively behind and in front of her. One hand rested on her back while the other covered Elizabeth's hand on her very swollen stomach.

"Not long to go now." John whispered in her hair. Elizabeth sighed in content. Elizabeth was dozing, when she suddenly opened her eyes wide.

"John, I'm really glad you got released today". She said rushed.

"Me to honey."

"Really really glad John." She said as she sat up. John laughed sitting up behind her.

"Why so glad?" he asked as he massaged her shoulders.

"Because my water just broke."


End file.
